A Promise Is A Promise
by CrayolaBox16
Summary: Draco sighed as he cupped Ginny's cheek, so lovingly that it made him regret doing it. "I promised you that I would never leave you because you needed me. And now I fulfilled that promise." It's Blue, read and review!


ZOMG. It's me, Blue! :) I'm back for another Draco/Ginny fic. Sorry that most of us in CB16 aren't updating/publishing recently (except Pink). We're all super duper busy with school :/ Although, I already have a sensible Harry/Ginny fic that I'm currently working on. Anyways, it's past my curfew now and I sacrificed sleep just to get this posted :P So, can you please give me reviews? :)) Thanks! :D (PS, if there are any spelling/grammar errors, I apologize in advance. Like I said, it's past my curfew O.o)

Disclaimer: I don't own any Harry Potter name, event or item in the story.

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Rain poured down on the grounds of Hogwarts. The drops of water created ripple effects on the lake as it cascaded down from above. Many of the young wizards and witches, who earlier enjoyed their windy, cloudy day, scurried and sprinted into their humble school and to their respectful Houses. Except two students, both who are one of the best in their years, were standing underneath the big oak tree. One of the said students, whose long, fiery hair dampened and her fair, slightly-freckled skin moist from the rain, stared out to the Great Lake. The other, with platinum blonde hair and porcelain skin, watched from behind as she seemed to be so entranced with the disturbed waters. He let his dark, silver eyes roam down from her shriveled red mane to her fit, petite torso and finally to the ends of her second-hand Gryffindor clothes. To him, she was a picture of perfection. The perfection that he wanted, no, needed in his life.

His concentrated thoughts were interrupted as he was startled by the sound of her sigh. His gaze was now focused on her hand that was reaching up to rake in between her hair. The Slytherin wizard whipped his eyes to the back of her head as he heard her talk amidst the heavy rain.

"The weather's really coming down. The heavens must be downright depressed." She said as the usual spark in her voice was lacking.

"Maybe. I think that the four founders are just fighting again." He tried saying to help her lighten the mood.

"Could be…" The young witch trailed off as she stared into the lake one again.

He closed his eyes in tightly, the moment in time was going painfully through him. He felt electricity coursing through his body as he stood motionless now. When he couldn't take the silence, he scowled at the worthless progress they made.

"Can't we talk this in a more—"

"Mature way?" He jumped at the harshness of her voice.

"Gin, just let me explain—" He pleaded desperately, completely forgetting that he was angry at their silence.

"Gin? I thought you wanted to be mature. Might as well call me Ginevra, right?" Ginny Weasley spat angrily.

He swiftly strode towards the youngest Weasley until her back was pressed against his chest. He vaguely felt the low breathing of the redhead. His redhead.

"Ginny, my dear Ginny…" Draco Malfoy said soothingly, trying to calm her down.

"Don't." She answered in a strained voice.

"Please, Gin. You don't even know why I'm doing it." He said as he attempted to lay his hand on her shoulder, which she hastily shrugged off.

"What's not to know, Draco?" She growled his name as she turned around to face him.

He immediately got lost into her eyes, which was full of hate and anger that was only caused by him and his reasons.

"After all this time… After all the moments… After everything we've done…" Her voice cracked as she couldn't form the right words. "…you would leave me, just like that?"

"It's not like that, it's just—" His words were cut off when he felt Ginny pounding her fists onto his chest.

"How could you, Malfoy? Do I even mean something to you? Am I just some other toy of yours? That you suddenly got bored with me so you've decided to dispose of me?" Each statement ended with a hard punch, causing him to step backwards. Draco felt a harder sting from her words rather than her strong hits. Both students were now under the strong rain, but he kept his focus on her.

"Of course you do! If you didn't, then why would I spend so much time with you?" He explained, but the look in her dark brown orbs says that she didn't believe a word he said.

"Malfoy, you're not telling me something!" Ginny cried out loud, ignoring what he just said.

"I'm saying what you want to hear Gin!"

"No, you're hiding something! You wouldn't break up with me without a proper reason. You and I both know that!"

"Then what do you want me to say, Gin? What do you want me to do?" He said desperately, almost angrily at her stubbornness.

"Not to leave me!"

"I can't do that!"

"Why not?" She said as her voice grew more hysterically.

"Because of my promise!"

Both Ginny and Draco stopped talking, her mouth slightly open.

"Wh-what are you talking about?" She said in a bare whisper.

"My promise. To you." He simply said, his face now emotionless.

"What promise?" She asked tiredly from her screaming.

"The promise I made you, right under that tree."

Ginny narrowed her eyes, the look on her face showing that she was trying to figure out what he was saying.

Draco sighed as he cupped Ginny's cheek, so lovingly that it made him regret doing it. "I promised you that I would never leave you because you needed me. And now I fulfilled that promise."

Her features softened at what he meant. She quickly shook her head and placed her hand over his at her cheek. "No. No, no, no… I still do."

"How can you prove that?"

"Be-because…" She trailed off, miserable that she could not think of an acceptable answer.

"You see?" He let his hand fall from her face, though her grasp was still firm.

"Draco, how could you possibly think that I don't need you?" She asked sadly.

He looked away and started to glare the muddy grass. He wouldn't dare utter the reason why he knew that she didn't need him anymore. If he would, she would try to convince him not to, which would lead to more trouble.

"Draco, look at me." Ginny placed a hand at his nape, the hairs on his neck stood at the sudden contact, but his gaze remained intact.

"Look at me." Three simple words that made his eyes slowly move onto hers. He could see the sincerity in her eyes, despite the raindrops flowing from them.

"No you don't." He softly said as he pushed a stray strand of hair from her forehead and tried to step back, only to be stay put by her grip.

"Am I not showing enough on how much I need you in my life?" Her hand slipped from his neck while the other was trailing up, both hands now resting on his chest.

She leaned closer, dangerously close in his mind.

"Come on, tell me." She whispered as she rested her forehead on his.

Draco's gaze intensified at her faultless statement. Something said so sweetly by someone virtuous makes his insides roll around. He vigorously shook his head and effectively took a couple of steps backwards, fortunate enough not to slip. He ignored his heart clenched when he saw Ginny flinch by his abrupt movement.

"Stop it. I came here not to fight, not to make up. I came here to do what I need to do." He said sternly, successfully keeping his voice constant.

"Then explain to me completely about what you need to do."

He looked up in the dark sky and took a deep breath before facing the young Weasley once again. It took all his strength to stay in his spot rather than scooping her into his arms and kissing both their pains away.

"A year ago, we were both emotionally injured people. You with the marked nightmares of Voldemort and me with my father's expectations and commands. We met under the same tree, brooding. And with that, we started with the snappy teasing." He sadly chuckled at the memory before continuing. "So our unlikely friendship started. It was kind of awkward at first for me, considering the Slytherin-Gryffindor camaraderie. But then when I relaxed around you, we easily opened up to each other. Sooner or later we started hanging out in the very same tree…"

"…And we made sure that we would never get caught with each other." Ginny quietly continued for him and put her head down.

"And the days turned into weeks. Weeks grew into months. And the feelings grew more complicated for both of us." Draco solemnly nodded. "I started to care for the least likely person and it scared me. But then you showed me the world through a different view, through different eyes. It was so surreal that I let go all those insecurities so that I would be fair to you."

The fiery red-head looked at him once more, struggling to let the tears by the bay. Reliving those moments with him, knowing that it would just stay a memory and nothing more, is slowly killing her.

"One day, I made the promise. It was dusk, leaning against the cool bark of our favorite tree. Your head was resting against my shoulder while I enjoyed the flowery sensation of your hair. You told me that my breath was tickling you and I just laughed. Shocked that I knew how to, you sat up and your eyes bore into mine. I told you that you had the most beautiful eyes and you were easily flustered." Draco, characteristically, wanted to make this harder for himself. He needed to feel the unbearable pain during this because he knew that he deserved it.

"We inched closer…" He took a step.

"…and closer…" Another step.

"And closer." He took one final step and bent down, his mouth hotly breathing against her ear.

"Do you remember what happened next, Ginny?" He whispered ever so gently that it made her shiver.

"We… we kissed. Our first kiss." She said almost inaudible against the rain.

"That's right." He said with a wry smile in his voice. He pulled back to completely take a look of her face. Her face looked so shaken that it made it look like he just insulted her. And he never wanted that to happen to her when she was with him. But he had to.

"Then you told me something." After a moment of silence, she finally spoke.

"…I need you." Ginny didn't bother to stop herself from letting her forehead fall straight into the crook of his neck and hugged him tightly.

The Slytherin student closed his eyes and clenched his fists on his sides as to prevent the rare, untouched tears to fall down to his cheeks.

"I need you." She repeated in a muffled voice.

"No, you needed me." Draco took a hold of her shoulders, trying to be oblivious to the way that her body tensed up before gently but forcefully pushing her away.

"What made you hold on to this promise?" She looked up at him, her eyes now dull and lifeless.

"A Malfoy never breaks his promise." He responded with a failed attempt of his signature smirk.

She silently shook her head again and, again, he sighed.

"Ginny, you needed a shoulder to cry on. A source to hear your melodic laugh. A pair of arms to comfort you. And a smile to show that everything would be okay. I have given you all that. You don't need me anymore, you have other friends, other classmates. Other options…" He trailed off as if telling her who he was talking about.

"No. They can't give me the most important thing that I need to live my life each day." She said as she took his face into her hands, her thumb caressing one of his pale cheeks.

"They can't give me a heart to tell me that they want me, need me… love me." She mumbled at the end of her statement.

It was true. Draco loved—still does—the youngest Weasley. She was the only person, even outside the Slytherin house, to completely understand what he goes through. All the pressure, the image of a Malfoy to retain, the swagger to show to his peers, the unintentional, devilish charm he always had. Ginny was the one person he could pour his heart out to. The hand he intertwines with his own to make sure that his world wouldn't crumble at every mistake and flaw he had.

But, alas, the Draco Malfoy pride would always stay with him. And nothing and no one could ever change that.

"I don't love you." He lied painfully. He needed to get this over with. He needed to end it now before he loses his nerve.

"What? No, don't say that!" Ginny exclaimed, hurt and shocked at what he said.

"I said that I cared for you and that I had feelings for you. I never said that I loved you." Draco lied through his teeth, his heart pounding loudly at each word that escaped his lips.

She looked confused, her eyes searching for some false in his eyes. But he was one step ahead of her. With all his might, he masked his eyes with the same coldness the vicious Draco always had. She pulled him closer, making their noses touch.

"You are the love of my life." She said as she tried to convince him that he reciprocated the sentiment.

He gave her the ugliest glare he could muster without breaking down. He was so close to crying at the strong pain he's experiencing as they talked longer.

What Draco seemed to think that she lost all hope, Ginny let go of his face and slightly moved away.

"Tell me that you hate me. Tell me that I've done my promise and now you want me out of your life." Draco said in a low voice.

"You can't make me something I don't me—"

"Just tell me!" He exclaimed, desperate to be out of her life so that he could stop hurting her.

"Just promise me one thing before we're done!"

"I have no time for promises for you anymore! You should know now that a promise of a Malfoy is the most dangerous one! Just say it, Weasely!" He purposely used her last name as a chance to get her livid with him.

"N-no… No!" She quickly threw her arms around his neck and crushed her lips against his.

This kiss was different than the ones they've shared. This one was filled with anger, heat, passion and hurt. Hands entangled in each other's hair as their mouths battle for dominance for the last stance. This was not a kiss of pure bliss. This was a kiss of agony. A kiss of an unwanted farewell.

Ginny pulled away, her forehead on his while her eyes closed. "Please don't let that be our last kiss."

"That's a promise I'm not willing to take nor willing to fulfill." With that, he walked away.

She stood alone, the rain has now stopped but the dark clouds still loomed over the grounds. She gazed at his retreating form. A part of her wanted to just scream and jump right back into his arms and kiss him sensually. But the rational part of her let her stay in place, watching the most important person she's ever known walk away from her.

Ginny turned around and went towards the tree. She sat down and leaned back, hugging her knees and burying her face before letting her tears flow out.

After a few hours, she heard faint, frantic voices calling her name, yet she dares not to look up. She felt a strong pair of arms around and pulled her up to stand. She blankly saw the face of Harry Potter, worry sketched across his face. She sees his lips moving but paid no attention to the words. After a while, she feels herself being carried inside her dorm.

As soon as Harry lain her on her respectful bed, she immediately hid her face from him. She made neither sound nor movement until she heard him exit the room before breaking down once more.

She thought about his promise. She never knew that he meant it like that. She never thought about what he really meant that day. As the sun sets for the day, her last thought for the day was that promises don't always keep you hopeful and faithful. Promises are meant to hurt you more ways than one.

Promises, when fulfilled, make you feel all alone against the world.


End file.
